GRR on X  GRR on Facebook GRR in Instagram GRR Vimeo Library GRR on YouTube RuggaMatrix America Podcasts Support GRR on Patreon

Eagles ARC Player Breakdown

irish rugby tours

Eagles ARC Player Breakdown

Tim Stanfill scores tries. He'd like to do it again. Ian Muir photo.

The squad for the USA Men's National 15s Team set to play in the Americas Rugby Championship is what you'd expect - a whole bunch of new guys hoping to make this the start of a long career, peppered with veteran.

It's an intriguing group, because many don't know each other or haven't played together, and few have played for any of the coaches in the coaching staff. John Mitchell and Phil Greening et al will have a ton of work to do to ge tthem all running in the same direction.

Here are a few stats and thoughts on this group as a colleciton of individuals:

Where they come from. Of the 37 players named (not all will be available for every game), 23 are younger than 27, and 25 have never been capped before. 

Twenty-three played high school rugby in the USA, and 17 were in the HS All American or Junior All American (U20s) program. Twenty played college rugby in the USA, with 16 named collegiate All Americans. This is possibly the first time that a major USA squad has been named with more age-grade All Americans than Collegiate All Americans listed.

What's also even more interesting (to us, anyway) is that this is the first time we've ever seen a squad like this were there is not a single player who picked up the game at the club level. Every single athlete listed started playing rugby as a youngster overseas, in high school in the USA, or, at the latest, in college. 

Thirteen of the players grew up overseas (we could make it 14, but Hanco Germishuys moved to Nebraska when he was quite young and played high school rugby there, so we count him differently). Of those, five qualify by birth (either being born in the USA or having a US citizen as a parent): Tom Bliss, Nic Edwards, James Hilterbrand, Greg Peterson, and Michelangelo Sosene-Feagai. The other eight qualify for the USA by residency: James Bird, JP Eloff, Luke Hume, Niku Kruger, Chad London, Taku Ngwenya, Bruce Thomas, and Matt Trouville. Funny thing about residency is that once you qualify and get capped, you don't have to live in the country in question anymore, so that's why Ngwenya, who has lived and played in France for the past seven years, remains an Eagle.

So ultimately this is a heavily US-trained team, one with solid roots in the High School and U20 All American programs. In addition, we have a longish list of players who have not played college rugby at all, or have been called up before they make the Collegiate All Americans. We will possibly see the first cap for the Santa Barbara Rugby Academy (Alec Gletzer), for example. But sometimes it's just playing for an age-grade team and then on to senior elite-level rugby (Titi Lamositele, Mike Te'o, Joseph Taufete'e.

Of the high school players, nine come from California, and five from Washington. Two come from Texas, and one each from Ohio, Florida, Louisiana, Colorado, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Missouri.

Now to the positions:

Prop: Chris Baumann, Demecus Beach, Eric Fry, James Hilterbrand, Olive Kilifi, Titi Lamositele

The front row is actually pretty settled, which isn't bad news. Fry can only play in two games, but they will be crucial ones against Argentina and Canada. He will settle down the pack, and Baumann could well emerge as the leader up here, because he's been to the World Cup, and he will play in all five games. Kilifi will be a good addition, too, although we are concerned wiht his ball retention. It's unclear if Lamositele will be released to play at all. If he is, it will be against Argentina and/or Canada. The big question is Hilterbrand. The Australian-trained prop who also played in South Africa was on a USA squad four years ago, only to back out at the last minute becaue he parlayed the USA callup into a more favorable contact with his team at the time. That move was pulled by a couple of players back then, and might have cost him in the long run because a) Mike Tolkin didn't want anything to do with him after that, and b) not having a cap can limit your pro rugby options. So will he show? Will he be interested in playing long-term? As followers of the Eagles here at Goff Rugby Report World Headquarters we say: "trust but verify." We've seen way too many players use a national team callup for only selfish reasons - so, James Hilterbrand, you have a lot to prove.

We're excited to see where Beach fits in.

 

Hooker: Cameron Falcon, Michelangelo Sosene-Feagai, Joseph Taufete'e
There's a nice piece on Sosene-Feagai from Hawke's Bay Today here. He could be a really nice addition (Hilterbrand issue could be the same here but this is attempt #1 so full trust is engaged). Taufete'e comes across as a guy who's not fit enough to play 80 minutes, but he's a powerful presence, and maybe Dave Williams can whip him into shape. Cam Falcon is a slightly different kind of player, but we like him a lot. This trio has potential.

 

Lock: Cameron Dolan, Ben Landry, Brodie Orth, Greg Peterson, David Tameilau, Matt Trouville
No issues here. Dolan could play loose forward as well, of course. But overall, it's a pretty good group, and Landry and Orth were on the list to move into these spots now anyway - no desperation selection moves. Peterson is, reportedly, in very good form at Glasgow. Tameilau is a big body who can mix it up at #6 or #5. In the end, though, it's all about the lineout, which is why Orth is there. 

Here's a piece we did on Ben Landry that shows his journey to the top levels.

 

Loose Forward: Patrick Blair, Todd Clever, Hanco Germishuys, Alec Gletzer, Aladdin Schirmer, David Tameilau, Bruce Thomas
Todd Clever has not been playing a whole lot at Newcastle, but they will need him during the Six Nations. Regardless, it's good to see him want to come back. He can break the all-time caps record this year if he plays more. The back row will have to really mix it up in this tournament. They will need to be smart, aggressive, and steal a lot of ball. Thomas is in superb form for SFGG and lots of people like him as the USA's #7. Schirmer, who we had mis-categorized earlier, is a tough and athletic player, but will have to fight for time.

We think Gletzer could be the breakout performer of this tournament, if he's fit. Germishuys could be that, too. Both are young, athletic, opportunistic, and won't be intimidated. Whatever combination the Eagles use, it will be a good one.

 

Scrumhalf: Tom Bliss, Niku Kruger
We might be missing someone here but we've got only two as scrumhalf. They wanted Louis Mulholland, too, but that didn't happen. Kruger is the de facto starter, but Bliss has had a ton of pro academy experience at Wasps. In a conversation with Mike Tolkin after the World Cup we asked the former Eagles coach about the fact that in Kruger's only USA start, he led the team in missed tackles. Tolkin said it was Kruger's first full game, and against South Africa, so "I am inclined to give him a Mulligan." Seems fair, but watch his defense. Mike Petri was the best defensive scrumhalf the USA has ever had, so there are big shoes to fill.

 

Flyhalf: James Bird, Jean Pierre Eloff, Ryan Matyas
Frankly we're not sure where Matyas fits in ... flyhalf, fullback, center, wing, scrumhaf (?). Somewhere. He's a nifty player. Looks like Eloff will get at least one start at flyhalf and Bird will liked get the rest. Eloff is a slippery runner who does well running in support, and a good kicker. Bird is a prodigious kicker who isn't thought of as a blazing runner, but a smart ballplayer. AJ MacGinty is playing quite well for Connacht (although his goalkicking has not been good), and he's likely the incumbent (we'll see). But the Eagles need more in the #10 jersey. This is the next chapter in an audition process that has been going on for seven years.

 

Center: Lemoto Filikitonga, Mike Garrity, Chad London
No Seamus Kelly, which is a shame. Like Chad London will line up at #13 and Folikitonga at #12 and they will run that combo all month long. Garrity is a super-scrappy kid out of East HS Regis Jesuit in Colorado.

 

Wing: Nic Edwards, Luke Hume, Kingsley McGowan, Takudzwa Ngwenya, Tim Stanfill, Mike Te'o
Wow that's a lot of wings. Six guys ... Ngwenya will play in one game (Argentina), and Hume in two. Hume is a mercurial character but he brings a lot of hunger. He just needs to use his support more. Edwards is kind of the same way. We don't rate Edwards for the 7s team anymore, but in 15s he could be very effective. Edwards is available for only two games.

So we might be able to predict the starters for the games:

Argentina: 11 Ngwenya, 14 Someone else (we're guessing McGowan)

Canada: 11 Te'o, 14 Hume

Chile: 11 Edwards, 14 Hume

Brazil: 11 Te'o 14 McGowan

Uruguay: 11 Stanfill, 14 McGowan


Or something like that. We like McGowan at #13, but think the Eagles will put him on the wing. It's going to be a tough road, and a debutant on the wing against good teams could be exposed. Tim Stanfill, who scored four tries in four games and change in the fall of 2014 has got to wonder what he has to do to get more playing time. If Stanfill gets a chance to finish, we could see some snazzy running.

 

Fullback: Jake Anderson, Jean Pierre Eloff, Blaine Scully
Scully will start at #15 against Argentina and then go back to Cardiff. Scully could well be in line to captain this team if he's around enough. After that, it's a question whether Anderson or Eloff will get time here. The USA lineup is packed with outside backs, so somebody will have to sit or find a way to be useful.

 

Captain: As we said, Scully is the logical choice, but he won't be around. Clever is not the logical choice, as this is the opportunity to look ahead, not behind, and if you choose Clever, then you have to replace him soon, again. Captain by committee? That should be the way ... the lineup will change so much Mitchell might well decide to pick a gameday captain for each test match. On our end, we like US-trained players to be the captain. The voice of the team should have an American accent ... that's just our own level of discrimination. Having said that, the guy weI'd pick to be captain for this tournament would be Bruce Thomas.